To think there must be something wrong with me because I absolutely can not tolerate the UK heatwaves - anyone else?

[Saywhatnowhey]

I am 53 and in perimenopause so that is not helping at all but I have always been like this.

As soon as summer hits and these heatwaves come out of nowhere I feel dreadful. I have never been able to tolerate either cold or hot weather at all, even when I was younger. As a child I preferred winter over summer so I could cover and layer up.

Where I live in the UK it is often the most hot and humid weather during the summer months and it makes me feel so physically unwell. I have some existing health issues but none that are related to temperature intolerance so no idea why I get like this. It's only 9.30am and I have already had to sit down with my neck fan on. Just hanging out a few loads of washing and tidying up the kitchen has left my heart racing, my stomach churning (I do have IBS which gets worse in the summer) and I feel so nauseous (I always feel so sick in the heat). Other than pace and fan myself there doesn't seem to be a lot I can do to dampen down the ill feeling I get.

No one else I know is like this, everyone adores this heat and really looks forward to it, some saying the hotter the better but I just want to lay on my bed and lay with the fan on all day, I feel so lightheaded and weird.

I have mentioned this numerous times to my GP but my blood levels return ok so they don't have any suggestions.

Is it normal to feel so unwell during the summer months? Does anyone else get this?

I freeze during the winter, like to the bone frozen but I would rather take that over the summer because at least I can carry my trusty hot water bottle around with me and layer up. The sticky, humid UK summers make me want to rip my skin off. It really annoys me because I love warmth and sunshine - I could happily reside in September and October for the rest of my days, I am at my most comfortable in Autumn.

I'm not a fan - it's totally different from being on holiday! And it seems much more humid here, which is just nasty, especially at night. When I was working, it was an 18 minute walk to the station, a 40 minute train journey with no air con, then either tube (on non-air conditioned line) or bus. Then an office with no Aircon 🥵 Really unpleasant, absolutely no respite from it at all. My house is cool though.

I don't tolerate it well either and never have. I'm very pale-skinned and burn very easily despite sun lotion.

Luckily the house we have now always seems to remain quite cool in heatwaves but the heat makes me feel exhausted and headachey and like I constantly want a shower.

I’m Greek and I would take a Greek heatwave over a UK one. I don’t quite know what it is about UK hot weather but it’s absolutely unbearably hot for me 😭 One obvious thing is dwellings are built to retain heat, carpet everywhere, and no air conditioning, those are killer. But also even outside, in the garden, on the patio, just walking around, it’s too bloody boiling hot 🥵

I love it OP. But I also don't have the illness you describe that sounds miserable.

I'm happy as it means no chilblains for a few months! My raynauds will bugger off till October when my toes start to burn again.

I am the exact same! Out of interest are you a redhead/very fair skinned? I am so have researched this and it seems we are very sensitive to both hot and cold temps generally. I can never seem to strike the balance in the summer of staying hydrated enough to not feel unwell, vs drinking so much water that makes me feel icky in itself. And sometimes no matter how hydrated I am, a hot temperature alone is enough to make me feel funny. I can’t fathom how people can drink alcohol in the sun either, or just even sun bathe!! 🤣 If there’s a breeze, access to a body of water and some shade I’m absolutely fine, but I will feel unwell with any exertion or vigorous activity. I’ve just accepted it now!

Are you drinking enough water? It might be that you need to take an electrolyte sachet. I sweat a lot in hot weather and often feel weak and lethargic. My favourite temperature is around 23-25 degrees.

I have dysautonomia and the heat absolutely destroys me. Palpitations of 150bpm+, exhaustion, nausea, lightheadedness.

I take medication to control it but there are a few things that help breakthrough symptoms:

Electrolytes are the big one - they help keep your blood volume up, and help you stay hydrated. I try and drink at least one bottle on a morning and one bottle on an evening. Personally I recommend Revival brand. Zero are also quite nice but don't always dissolve as well. Liquid IV aren't actually as good as people claim and they taste like someone added sugar to a fruit shoot.

Running wrists under cold water really helps bring me out of episodes as well and instantly cools me down.

Heat intolerance is often triggered by the vagal nerve so if I get symptomatic at home, I put an ice pack on my chest. The back of the neck works for some people but I find the chest most effective. It sort of "resets" my system.

When I shower I also turn it down to cool/cold for 20 seconds before I get out. I make sure my head is soaked in cold water. There's no science behind this, but I discovered it helped me by accident and just ran with it.

I really hope you find some relief x

I have the same. I have adhd and just hate sensations such as that sticky, treacle like feeling on my skin. It's why I can never do hardcore workouts.

I always loved the hot weather but I take long term medication now that has hugely reduced my tolerance to heat - I dread heatwaves, it's a constant battle to keep cool.

It's been really eye opening to me because I didn't really have any sense before of how people could struggle in the heat.

I will be staying indoors during the worst, putting up blackout blinds, taking cool showers and flaking in front of a fan.

Solidarity to all those struggling!

I'm so glad when I read people saying this, I've avoided going abroad in the summer last few years since I developed heat intolerance but maybe it won't be as bad as I fear!

100% agree to everything you have said there.

Because it comes on so quickly and can genuinely make some people (like myself) feel very unwell.

Do you live in a part of the UK which is quite cold in general? We haven't had the heating on for ages.

I LOVE a good British heatwave! I don’t even mind feeling a bit sweaty. Vitamin D, the smell of barbecues, feeling warm all the way through my bones, sitting out with a cold drink, wearing flip flops, taking the kids out to the beach or park and just feeling the sun on my face rather than sweaty rain pouring down my back or yet another day of grey cloud.

I love getting a bit of a tan and wearing nice floaty dresses. It’s good for the country, it’s good for businesses, it cheers the nation up a bit. LOVE IT!

I do the same. Several showers per day in the summer and I keep all the curtains and blinds drawn.

I would if money were no object, sadly I can't afford air con.

I don't like it.

if it is hot this weekend, I shall be lying in a white cotton nightdress on top of my bed , drinking cold drinks, reading and messing about on my laptop. My cat will probably join me.

This is a public health service for my family as I am very very ratty if hot.

They may knock on the bedroom door if they have an urgent request and I may advise them but what I will not be doing is shifting from this bed unless one of them loses a limb or the house is on fire.

I ordered a neck fan yesterday and it has just arrived. Luckily it was fully charged out of the box and I have had it on for about half hour now, it's really helping to cool me down, it will stay on all weekend at this rate.

Early days but atm I can fully recommend them - although I will look a right twat when I pop to the shops in a minute but I don't care as long as it cools me down.

It feels to me as if Victorian and Edwardian houses were built to handle heat well, but since then we seem to have got less good at it. My house is cold to a quite difficult level over the winter and so I haven’t found this May easy but I benefit now. I am quite religious about managing curtains, blinds and open windows though.

It sounds like you have an undiagnosed medical condition.

Exactly the same here ,all of us are like this
But we are all autistic and some ADHD
I've just gone on ADHD meds and it's making the heat 10 times worse

I hate uk heatwaves, we live in a flat with no outside space and 2 house cats so cannot keep the windows open. I have loads of fans, a portable ac unit and neck fans etc but still hate it. The heat and oppression make my migraines worse and DD cannot self regulate her body temp. We’d like to move to Alaska!

People are all different.

I lived on a Mediterranean island when I was a kid/teenager so to me anything under 35 degrees is not a heatwave!

I do appreciate though that the warm weather is harder to cope with if you are stuck in a big city and/or flat without a garden.

As someone who has lived in a hot climate the advice was always to: stay hydrated, avoid heavy meals, wear sunscreen and a hat and if you need to go out and avoid the warmer parts of the day (so if you need to go out go early in the morning or after 5pm). Don't wear tight clothes and instead wear loose clothing so the air can circulate and wear darker shades as navy blue, black, or deep red absorb UV radiation before it hits your skin.

It's a very sticky, soggy type of heat. I sweat a lot from my head and neck and my hair was hardly ever dry last year as I had to wash it every day. Combined with a red face and frizzy hair of course I looked amazing 😂

I can recommend a neck fan.

I am not a heatwave fan. Anything above 25/26 and our super warm house becomes an oven. I have cooling gel pads in the fridge, a fan you wear around the neck and a wide brimmed visor for when I am out because I don't like the feeling of intense sun on my face. I am counting the days until temperatures drop again...!

I love the heat and the feel of the sun on my skin. . It makes me feel mentally and physically good. But for all the posters that hate it, fear not. We have around 11 months of grey, wet, windy, drizzly weather with temperatures barely nudging 18 degrees for a few weeks in the summer if we're really lucky (or not, depending on your view point). So spare a thought for people like me who have to endure months and months of cold, grey, depressing crap and often still having to wear a bloody coat in June. I think a few days of 26c is a fair trade off.